POTW | Elk River

Elk River lies at the crossroads of Highways 169 and 10 and at the confluence of the Mississippi and Elk rivers. If you’ve ever driven up to cabin country, odds are good that you’ve passed through it. Several notable hockey players have roots in Elk River, including Dan Hinote, Paul Martin, Joel Otto and Nate Prosser. Residents of the area can easily take the Northstar Commuter Rail to downtown Minneapolis, hop on the Green Line and catch a Wild game at Xcel.

After a long stretch of underperformance, Elk River home prices are now mirroring the metro median. That makes sense because…

…Absorption rates in the city are tighter than those in the metro area, which partly explains the closure of the gap. In other words, assuming no new listing activity, the Twin Cities metro has enough listings to supply 3.0 months of demand, while Elk River has enough listings to supply the next 2.5 months of demand.

Shifting gears, let’s compare Elk River to the communities immediately surrounding it. The city has more active properties for sale than any neighboring community, though only by a margin of two. It is worth noting, however, that Elk River saw the most dramatic decline in inventory levels.

On a price per square foot basis, Otsego is the priciest of the bunch at $116 per foot. Elk River is actually the most affordable of the group, clocking in at only $103 per foot. For comparison, the Twin Cities metro has a median price of $120 per foot, over the last 12 months. For June alone, that metro figure was $126 per foot.